Return to Earthsea

I had a chance recently to reread Ursula K. LeGuin's "Tales from Earthsea", a volume of short stories that represent a return to her fantasy world first presented over forty years ago in her classic "A Wizard of Earth Sea". I first encountered that book in the late 70s as a child, and was seduced by the poetic beauty of the prose and the images, at a time when most children would be deemed to be more immersed in their own vain and somewhat lustful obsession with satisfying their immediate appetives. I was an inveterate reader from an early age, and this world always seemed to be particularly akin to my own contemplative nature, for I too was an outsider. And as such, I was glad that the author decided to return to this world, publishing both the novel "Tehanu" as well as this collection of stories.

It is a world in which both the concepts of equilibrium as well as logos are supreme. As such, these are emblematic of both of limits but also, paradoxically, of power. Knowing a name confers power, and it represents a form of cognitive mastery that is frightening in this world. Characters, as ever, seek to hide their real names, and go instead by their use names, the masks that may reflect a certain quality that distingishes us (for example, the afinity of one character to transform himself into an otter), but also the need to construct a defensive barrier. There is a deep metaphysical issue at play here, for we are forced to consider more deeply what is the nature of this essence that is leaves one vulnerable, but also, when shared freely, is an emblem of love.

The stories range from the mythical past to the era that follows the return of Ged with the new king Lebannen. These stories deal with the founding of Roke and the fellowship of the Hand (this can't help but recall the title of a Michael Mann movie of many years back, Band of the Hand), but also with the search for balance and for a true home for all the characters involved. Irioth, the summoner who was overpowered by his own frailty and fear, wanders through a misty landscape after having challenged two powerful mages of Roke, a damaged man who is forced to follow through on his penance while finding the possibility of forgiveness and redemption.

Other characters are involved in similar searches, and in a sense, we have fables that relate to eternal human verities. The fact that magic is involved serves to give concrete form to a certain metaphorical depth that, as ever, resonates with the mysteries of human emotion and desires. For while magic is subject to analytical study, and spells as well as names may be compiled in books of lore, one is left as ever with a deep consideration of the way in which magic merely reflects human impulses that are, as ever, rooted in deep and primordial urges.

I find myself seduced by the landscape of a wild sea, of exotic peoples, and of dragons taking flight to the west. It is certainly a fable that points to transformation but also, ultimately, reconciliation.

 

 

 

Eternal Observer -- ORomero (c) 2013
Copyrights ORomero 2013